Three Charged After Alleged Extortion Try

Three Charged After Alleged Extortion Try

C Three men, including a Hartford community group organizer, were arrested Wednesday morning on federal extortion charges after they were caught trying to set fire to a developer's car.

The three, including Kenneth W. Sanders, an organizer with the North End community group ONE/CHANE, were arrested on Route 10 in Avon after a police chase from Farmington.

Sanders, 32, works with city residents to improve their neighborhoods.

Wednesday, several West Hartford police officers had gone to developer Arthur Greenblatt's office on Talcott Notch Road in Farmington to tape what they expected would be another threatening call demanding a large sum of money.

But while waiting for the call, officers outside the office saw two men wearing ski masks pouring what they believed was gasoline on Greenblatt's car, said Lt. Stephen R. Lovett, commander of the special investigations division.

Officers approached the men, but they fled in a maroon Dodge Caravan driven by a third man. About 10 cars from the West Hartford, Farmington and Avon police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation stopped the van, which had blown a tire along the way. With nothing but the damaged metal rim on the left front axle, the van was stopped in front of 299 Waterville Road in Avon.

Sanders, of 209 Westland St., Hartford; Bilal A. Shakir, 30, of 101 School St., Bloomfield; and Frederick Q. Khan, 42, of 94 Clark St., Hartford, were arraigned in U.S. District Court in Hartford Wednesday afternoon on a charge of interfering with commerce by threat, violence and extortion, Lovett said.

As an employee of ONE/CHANE -- Organized North Easterners, Clay Hill and North End -- Sanders has led community efforts to fight crime in the North End of Hartford. He has been a spokesman for the area on issues such as police brutality, recreation and better housing.

Larry Williams, president of ONE/CHANE, had not heard about Sanders' arrest and declined to comment Wednesday night.

Lovett said West Hartford detectives began an investigation three months ago when Greenblatt approached them after the attempt to extort a "large sum of money" began. Greenblatt had been assaulted at his home by someone demanding money, he told police. He did not seek medical treatment.

The threats and demands were "in connection with a business transaction involving an out-of-state individual," says the arrest affidavit filed in federal court. Lovett said investigators were not sure why Greenblatt had been chosen, and Lovett declined to comment on the nature of the threats.

Lovett said the investigation had not reached the point where all the possible perpetrators were identified, but "we feel that we're there; we have three of the principals," Lovett said. "We're looking into who else is involved." The three men were held in the Morgan Street jail in Hartford pending a detention hearing in federal court Monday afternoon.

Three men, including a Hartford community group organizer, were arrested Wednesday morning on federal extortion charges after they were caught trying to set fire to a developer's car.

The three, including Kenneth W. Sanders, an organizer with the North End community group ONE/CHANE, were arrested on Route 10 in Avon after a police chase from Farmington.

Sanders, 32, works with city residents to improve their neighborhoods.

Wednesday, several West Hartford police officers had gone to developer Arthur Greenblatt's office on Talcott Notch Road in Farmington to tape what they expected would be another threatening call demanding a large sum of money.

But while waiting for the call, officers outside the office saw two men wearing ski masks pouring what they believed was gasoline on Greenblatt's car, said Lt. Stephen R. Lovett, commander of the special investigations division.

Officers approached the men, but they fled in a maroon Dodge Caravan driven by a third man. About 10 cars from the West Hartford, Farmington and Avon police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation stopped the van, which had blown a tire along the way. With nothing but the damaged metal rim on the left front axle, the van was stopped in front of 299 Waterville Road in Avon.

Sanders, of 209 Westland St., Hartford; Bilal A. Shakir, 30, of 101 School St., Bloomfield; and Frederick Q. Khan, 42, of 94 Clark St., Hartford, were arraigned in U.S. District Court in Hartford Wednesday afternoon on a charge of interfering with commerce by threat, violence and extortion, Lovett said.

As an employee of ONE/CHANE -- Organized North Easterners, Clay Hill and North End -- Sanders has led community efforts to fight crime in the North End of Hartford. He has been a spokesman for the area on issues such as police brutality, recreation and better housing.